H-TOWN LOOKS TO HARVEST TIMBER IN LAKE CLEAR

The Town of Harrietstown is looking into the possibility of harvesting timber from a large tract of town-owned land in the Lake Clear area.

The town board agreed Thursday night to hire Timber Assets and Management LLC, a company owned by Franklin County Legislator Tim Burpoe, to explore the possibility of timber management on 290 acres around the town business park and the Adirondack Regional Airport. 

The decision came after the board met earlier with Burpoe, who outlined a series of steps for the town to take. 

Supervisor Larry Miller says Burpoe plans to look at where timber could be harvested on the property, create a budget and revenue estimates, and layout the area where timber can be taken and roads can be built.

Harrietstown Councilman Brian McDonnell says they first looked into the idea as a way to open up more lots in the business park so it can be better marketed to potential tenants.

He said the meeting with Burpoe was worthwhile. “Tim certainly presented a very professional viewpoint for the town and the business park,” McDonnell said. “He’s going to validate whether or not there’s value to doing a cut on the business park and the surrounding property the town owns.”

At this point, McDonnell said, they just want to see if such a project could be cost effective and worth the effort.

The town agreed to front the company a maximum of $5000, which they hope to recoup by selling the timber harvested on the land.

The decision to move forward was based on the approval of the town attorney.  Town officials will also contact the Adirondack Park Agency. 

In other business, the board heard a report on this year’s airshow from Tom Kalinowski of the newly created Adirondack Regional Airport Action Group. He described the event as an overwhelming success with more than 4000 people attending both days.  “We certainly had great numbers,” he said.  “I didn’t hear many complaints.”

Supervisor Larry Miller said they collected $14,800 in donations and revenue from parking, concessions and advertising.  Still, it was a net loss for the town, which had budgeted $25,000 for the air show this year.

Councilman McDonnell was concerned about the deficit, noting that they had only budgeted $10,000 to 15,000 in previous years.  “I think $25,000 is an exorbitant amount for an airshow,” he said.  “I support the existence of an airshow to support the airport.  But we have to be responsible to the taxpayers of the Town of Harrietstown.”

But Supervisor Larry Miller said the entire town board had agreed to the amount budgeted for the airshow.  “I think this is a worthwhile event,” he said.  “I think it’s a tremendous economic impact for the area.”

In other news, Airport Manager Chris Kreig said the number of emplanements or passengers boarding commercial airplanes at Adirondack Regional was down during July and August.  The drop was attributed to the pending change in air service from CommutAir to Big Sky Airlines.

Overall, however, Kreig said emplanements are up so far this year.  2257 passengers flew out of Lake Clear from January to August compared to 1832 over the same period last year.

-Chris Knight

TL PLANNERS, IDA RETHINKING BUSINESS PARK

After lying quiet for years the Wood Products Business Park in Tupper Lake is getting a boost of new energy.

The Tupper Lake Planning Board has been working with the Franklin County Industrial Development Agency to change the deeds and covenants to allow different types of businesses to locate at the now vacant park.

But in order to do so, the IDA, which owns the park, has to get approval from the Adirondack Park Agency.

When the deed covenants and restrictions were originally drawn up, uses were limited to companies dealing in wood and forest products.

Town Planner John Storrin said allowing other businesses to locate at the park, on Kildare Road, would make it more marketable. And it could free up space in the village to bring in other types of businesses. “We wanted to reassess the covenants and restrictions and see if we could lower the threshold for uses at the business park,” said Storrin.

At their meeting Wednesday night, planning board members tweaked the deeds and covenants to include language that would require would-be tenants at the park to install full cutoff lighting. The push to avoid and reduce light pollution has been made by members of the Adirondack Public Observatory. The village, town and planning boards have also explored enacting a town wide lighting ordinance.

Storrin was also asked by the board to meet with the APA’s Steve Erman to explore making sites at the business park “shovel ready.” That would shorten the permitting process through the park agency.

A change of uses at the park would be welcomed news to John and Lynda Hoyt, neighbors to the Graymont Cement Company on Pleasant Avenue. For several years the Hoyts have been lobbying the village, town and planning boards to find a new home for the cement company citing traffic congestion, noise, and dust and debris issues.

Mrs. Hoyt asked if there was anything she could do to expedite the process. “Is there any way we can help push that along,” she asked.

“It wouldn’t hurt to write a letter to the Industrial Development Agency and Park Agency,” suggested Bob Collier.

Chairman Jim Larkin told Mrs. Hoyt they sympathize with their situation. “I think everybody is on your side, even the people who own the plant are on your side but they have to have some place to go,” said Larkin.

Creation of the park was spurred almost ten-years ago by a $1.4 million grant from the Economic Development Administration and the State of New York.

-Mike Fritts

SPITZER DRIVER’S LICENSE CHANGE SPURS CONCERN

The North Country’s representatives in Albany are demanding Governor Spitzer repeal a plan that would allow illegal aliens to obtain New York state driver's licenses.

Spitzer announced Friday that the state, starting next year, would issue driver's licenses to New Yorkers without regard to immigration status. New York's more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants will be able to obtain a license by showing a current foreign passport verified by motor vehicle offices.

The policy change has sparked a heated debate.

Opponents, like State Senator Betty Little, say awarding licenses to illegal immigrants would make it easier for terrorists to board airplanes, rent vans, open bank accounts, and enter government buildings, and would encourage identity theft.

“Why, after spending billions of dollars to improve security in our state, would anyone consider it appropriate to make it easier for a potential terrorist to obtain this powerful form of personal identification,” Little said Thursday.  “We need to be vigilant in ensuring that the integrity of a driver’s license is maintained, not degraded.”

Little also said the Legislature should have been consulted. “Given its implications, I think the governor should withdraw it immediately,” she said.  “This is an issue that warrants an open, public discussion.”

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward agreed.  “The best course of action would be to bring the issue before the Legislature for extensive review and debate prior to a vote.”

But the Spitzer administration and immigrant groups say the policy would remove a hardship for a large, disadvantaged population and would strengthen security by bringing undocumented New Yorkers into a state system.

The governor argues that there are currently tens of thousands of undocumented, unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the roadways, which contributes to more accidents and drives up insurance costs.  

Michael Balboni, New York's homeland security chief, says the new system improves security by creating public records that police can use to ensure true identities.

-Mike Fritts & Chris Knight

MOOSE POPULATION NEARS 500 IN NORTH COUNTRY

Moose numbers are growing exponentially in New York, with the Department of Environmental Conservation projecting a population of roughly 500 in the northern part of the state this fall.

That’s up from the estimated 50-100 moose a decade earlier and a handful of sporadic sightings in the 1980s.

“It’s wonderful to see this marvelous animal make its way back to New York,” said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis, noting that moose had vanished from the state for roughly 120 years, from the end of the Civil War until the 1980s.

As the population has grown in New England and Canada, moose have moved into New York, establishing a base in the North Country.

The growth of the moose population in the state has surprised many scientists like Chuck Dente, a DEC Big Game Biologist. When the state began documenting sightings in the 1980s, there was no certainty that the moose would stay – much less grow in numbers. Even if they did stay, it was thought it would take decades to reach such a large population.

“It kind of surprised us that these animals were taking to New York,” Dente said. “Somewhere along the way they proved everyone wrong. They have adapted quite well.”

Dente says the main reason is that moose numbers in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Canada have been steadily rising, and many moose (usually younger ones) have migrated across the border into New York.  Biologists think the increase in New York’s moose count in recent years is now mainly due to the birth of calves in the state, rather than migration.

“We are now receiving numerous reports of sightings of cows with calves, a good sign of a prolific moose population,” Dente said.

Reports of wandering moose have become annual events – just recently a young male was spotted in Troy, swam across the Hudson River and was found in a backyard in Waterford (Saratoga County) before DEC officials tranquilized and relocated him to the wilderness.

So far in 2007, the state has recorded 12 moose-automobile collisions – a record even before the start of breeding season, when the animals are most active. DEC is working with the state Department of Transportation to determine if and where moose crossing signs might be placed.

Moose are most active at dawn and dusk. They are also especially difficult to see at night because of their dark brown-to-black coloring and their height – which puts their head and much of their body above vehicle headlights.

-Chris Knight

NO CHARGES AGAINST LEGISLATOR OVER MILEAGE, TRIPS

A Franklin County Legislator will be required to pay restitution but is not expected to face criminal charges for overcharging the county for out of town trips and double billing two agencies for attending meetings in the same building on the same day.

Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie tells the Plattsburgh Press-Republican that the disposition of the case surrounding Raymond Susice [sue-see] of St. Regis Falls hasn’t been resolved yet. 

“No charges have been filed and there won’t be if he makes restitution to the county,” Wylie said.

Wylie was appointed to handle the case as a special prosecutor this summer after a Press-Republican investigation into the mileage vouchers of Franklin County legislators.

The newspaper questioned Susice’s mileage reimbursements, which were nearly double those of the next closest legislator, Paul Maroun of Tupper Lake, who travels much farther to get to county meetings. 

Susice also had billed both the county Legislature and Solid Waste Management Authority for separate trips in 2005 and 2006 even though the meetings happened on the same day in the same building.

Susice’s vouchers for out of town trips were also questioned.  He had claimed the round trip distance from his home to Albany was 460 miles while State Police measured the distance as 373 miles.  Susice also filed mileage reimbursements for a separate trip to Warrensburg, claiming he traveled 500 miles.  The distance was actually 246 miles.

The amount of restitution Susice will be required to pay is still being determined.  Wylie also tells the Press-Republican that they’re working with county officials to develop a better system of mileage reporting.

A Democrat, Susice represents the towns of Waverly, Dickinson, Moira, Brandon and part of Bombay.  He’s running for re-election this year and is opposed by Sue Robideau for the Democratic nomination.

-Chris Knight

CRASH VICTIM UPGRADED TO SERIOUS CONDITION

The condition of the lone survivor of a one-car crash in Warren County that killed three other people has been upgraded.

23 year-old Mindy Glenn of Ticonderoga has been upgraded from critical to serious condition, according to officials at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington.

Three others were killed in the Wednesday morning crash in Hague: 18 year-old Asia Fuller and 21 year-old Ryan Thompson, both of Ticonderoga, and 17 year-old Justin Frasier of Hague.

All four passengers were ejected from Thompson's 1997 Ford Escort when it crashed into a tree and a stone wall off Route 8.  Police have said alcohol and speed contributed to the crash, which remains under investigation.

Results of autopsies on the victims and blood alcohol tests have yet to be released.

-Chris Knight

POLICE REPORT

Tupper Lake Village Police charged 45 year-old Timothy J. Snyder of Tupper Lake with second-degree harassment at 8:16 a.m. Thursday.  Police say the charge stems from a domestic dispute.  Snyder was arraigned and released to return to village court October 15.

Tupper Lake Village Police issued an appearance ticket to 27 year-old Andrew J. Johnson of Tupper Lake at 9:52 a.m. Thursday.  Johnson was charged with petit larceny for allegedly removed part of a furnace from an empty trailer.  He’s scheduled to appear in village court October 15.

Tupper Lake Village Police issued a criminal summons to 51 year-old Betty J. Wilson of Tupper Lake at 3:07 p.m. Thursday.  She was charged with second-degree harassment and is scheduled to appear in village court October 1.